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A federal grand jury is looking into Bristol-Myers Squibb's accounting practices, according to news sources, but no one is disclosing the reason for the New Jersey-based investigation. The company has said it is being investigated for its program of offering large discounts to wholesalers, allegedly to buy more prescription drugs than they could sell and a practice an executive said would inflate revenues and create an inventory glut.

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Irish drug company Elan said it plans to file for early approval of a medication some scientists consider a "blockbuster opportunity" to treat multiple sclerosis. If approved, the drug, called Antegren, could reach the market in 2005.

According to a report leaked to Britain's Guardian newspaper, the government is set to permit genetically modified maize to be planted in the country, despite arguments against such crops. Minutes from the leaked document say, "Opposition might eventually be worn down by solid, authoritative scientific argument."

The nation's largest mail-order pharmacy has lost its annual contract for 10 million prescriptions with 3.9 million federal employees and retirees. Medco Health Solutions' contract will cease at the end of this year, to be taken over by the pharmacy benefits manager, Caremark Rx, which just last week received federal clearance to acquire another PBM, AdvancePCS.

Pfizer sent a letter to a Canadian drugstore and other mail-order companies announcing it is cutting off their supply of its products because they were reselling the drugs to Americans. The head of a Canadian pharmacists group acknowledged the Pfizer action has made it harder for Canadian pharmacies to serve U.S. customers.

Speaking out against the exclusion of sugar from the recently signed trade agreement between the U.S. and Australia, an industry spokesperson said the provision will hurt future trade agreements. "When you exclude a product, everybody pays," she said.